We are in the full swing of spring here at Greene Towne, so it’s crunch time to wrap up the auction projects in time for May. Here is a look at what Ms. Jen’s class, Ms. Anne’s class, and Primary ADM have been putting together for their auction art!

Ms. Jen’s class has been hard at work to recreate a section from one of Gustav Klimt’s triptychs entitled Fulfilment. In December, all of the primary students were introduced to his work through a book called The Magical Tree and a golden scratch art work that was available for all primary classrooms. Ms. Jen’s students collaged many different painted papers together to complete their interpretation of Klimt’s famous work.

The first and second year students filled in the background by sponge painting to create some texture. Next, they painted paper in many different shades of gold, bronze, blues and greens. They were especially excited to work with gold! Then, once those papers were dry, the second years helped cut some of the larger shapes out.

The kindergarteners applied real gold leaf to sheets of watercolor paper. All of them took special care to work with this very delicate material. After the gold leaf was applied and the glue was dried, they also cut these papers into certain shapes. Then, they kindergartners helped assemble it all together to get the final, gilded result!

Ms. Anne’s class has completed a piece inspired by Romare Bearden. In February, the Kindergarteners learned all about his collage work. Romare featured jazz musicians frequently in his art, so each kindergartener made their own jazz collage from magazine cutouts and scrap paper. The students in Ms. Anne’s class took this a step further by recreating one of Romare’s most famous works, Jammin’ at the Savoy.

For the background, students painted the shapes in the same colors as the original piece with acrylic paints. Then, the border was made with watercolors. Some students also helped by painting watercolors on separate pieces of paper. Once those papers dried, they were cut into shapes to collage together the musicians. Some of the second years cut the larger pieces. 

Each kindergartener was given a musician at random to collage together. They carefully glued all the pieces together on a separate piece of paper. Next, they cut their musicians out and glued them to the background. And with that, the piece was finished!

Even though we haven’t covered the work of Mary Blair yet, the students in Primary ADM made their own original artwork based on her style! Mary Blair is best known for her work with Disney in the 50’s and 60’s. She created the concept art for Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella. Mary also designed the It’s a Small World ride in Disneyland, and this is the inspiration for Primary ADM’s piece.

First year students chose which color they wanted to paint. Then, they mixed paint together to get the colors just right. They painted paper with the colors they made, and that paper would be cut into shapes for the buildings. Second year students chose a building from the Philadelphia skyline to paint. They too mixed the colors, and they also helped glue them to the background. Some of them were able to recognize what buildings they were painting!

The kindergarteners chose an iconic building in Philadelphia to piece together. The buildings are City Hall, Independence Hall, the Philadelphia Art Museum, Boathouse Row, and the Philadelphia Waterworks. They used a photo of how the pieces all went together for reference, and then glued everything in the right on a separate piece of paper. Next the building was cut out from that paper and they added their building to the piece. They had a lot of fun creating their city in the style of a famous artist!

Once all the pieces were completed, we handed them over to Nick and Tim at Philadelphia Picture Framing. They were a huge help in choosing the mats and frame for all of the works of art. We absolutely love working with them! 

Here is a sneak peek of these three pieces:

We can’t wait for the Gallery Walk so you can see these pieces in person!